Why the study?
Does emergency repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm result in worse quality of life compared to elective repair?
Does emergency repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm result in worse quality of life compared to elective repair?
Survivors of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair can expect a quality of life comparable to those undergoing elective repair, supporting an aggressive treatment approach for ruptured AAA.
OBJECTIVE: To find out whether patients undergoing repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) had more emotional problems and limitations of lifestyle than those listed for elective resection. DESIGN: Retrospective study SETTING: Teaching hospital, Eire. SUBJETS: 28 patients, 14 in each group, matched for age, sex, duration of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), hospital stay postoperatively, and length of time since operation. INTERVENTIONS: Application of structured questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Emotional problems, mobility, activities of daily living, ability to sleep, degree of psychological stress, presence of symptoms, and Rosser index to measure quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in any measure. CONCLUSIONS: Patients have few emotional difficulties or disturbances of QoL after emergency or elective repair of AAA. Survivors after repair of ruptured AAA can expect as good a quality of life as those operated on electively. These results support an aggressive approach to the treatment of ruptured AAA.
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Hennessy et al. (2002) studied this question.
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